United States Squirrel Species

Squirrels belong to the family of Sciuridae , along with other members such as chipmunks, marmots, prairie dogs, and flying squirrels among many others. The squirrel is native to Americas, Africa, and Eurasia and humans to Australia introduced them. Over 200 species of squirrels live throughout the world, with many different species residing within the United States. The United States is home to five different types of squirrels; fox, gray, red, flying and ground. Some live in the trees, some live in the ground and others appear to fly. Tree squirrels generally have bushy tails, sharp claws and large ears, while ground squirrels have shorter legs and less bushy fur. Flying squirrels have a furred membrane between their wrists and ankles that allow them to glide between trees.
Below is the list of the different species of squirrels in the United States:

Fox Squirrel

Fox squirrels are tree squirrels that inhabit the eastern half of the United States. They are so named because of the reddish gray and pale brown color of their fur, resembling the appearance of fox fur. Although tree squirrels depend on trees for food and protection from predators, fox squirrels spend an appreciable amount of time on the ground. They spend more time foraging on the ground compared to neighboring species of tree squirrel like the eastern gray squirrel. Fox squirrels will even spend time in fields far away from any trees. These squirrels prefer environments where woodland and open fields border each other.



Gray Squirrel

There are two species of gray squirrels that resides the United States, the Western Gray and the Eastern Gray. The eastern gray squirrel normally inhabits the northeastern United States, although it has invaded the western United States, as well as Europe. The western gray squirrel lives in three separate locations along the western coast. Both of these large squirrels appear in a variety of colors, which include black, gray, brown, cream and red.

California Ground Squirell

The California ground squirrel inhabits California, Oregon and Washington. They forage above ground near their burrows, eating a diet of nuts, fruits, roots and small animals. It is common to find this squirrel residing in a home garden. This squirrel is sometimes considered a pest because of the damage it inflicts on garden produce. If a ground squirrel is seen in the garden, it can be identified as a California ground squirrel by its brown fur and semi-bushy tail. There is little chance of seeing this squirrel during the winter gardening season, however, because that is its hibernation period.

Flying Squirrels

The United States is home to two species of flying squirrels, the northern flying squirrel and the southern flying squirrel. The northern flying squirrel is the larger of the two squirrel species. Usually, it lives in the higher elevations of Alaska, California, Arizona, Michigan and the Appalachian and Adirondack mountains. Southern flying squirrels are found in the eastern half of the United States in lower elevations down through Florida (wild). These very small squirrels may outnumber gray squirrels, although their nocturnal living habits make them nearly impossible to find.


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